Knee Injury Sidelines Forward Recruit

Ben Bolch

An MRI exam on the knee of USC signee Kasey Cunningham revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament that is expected to sideline the 6-foot-7 forward for the remainder of his senior season at Albuquerque Cibola High.

Cunningham will have surgery in two weeks and is expected to be ready for fall practice at USC.

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Freshman forward RouSean Cromwell returned to the Sports Arena on Thursday for the first time since breaking his right foot Dec. 23 when he stepped on a ball in pregame warmups.

Cromwell's time away from the team became even more difficult when he learned that his father needed surgery to remove a section of his small intestine.

The elder Cromwell is expected to make a full recovery after being released from the hospital last week.

Cromwell, whose right foot was encased in a protective boot, said last week that he hoped to return in about a month to bolster USC's interior presence, which has been largely nonexistent without the 6-10, 215-pounder, who averaged 4.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 10 games.

Fellow big men Abdoulaye N'diaye and Jeremy Barr were averaging a combined 8.1 points and 6.2 rebounds before the Trojans played Washington on Thursday night.

"I feel like they're holding up, doing what they need to do," Cromwell said. "I know we're hurting because we have only two big men left, but I'm proud of those guys. They work hard and do everything they can to win."

Ben Bolch

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Saturday vs. Washington State, 5 p.m., Sports Arena, FSN West 2 -- Sophomore guard Josh Akognon scored 27 points during the Cougars' upset victory over Washington last week, helping to fill the void created by the loss of leading scorer Derrick Low to a broken foot.